Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Work Progress 5%
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Know thyself and know thy enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, victory is certain.
"That's originally 'Know thyself and know thy enemy, and you will never be defeated.' Not 'victory is certain,' but 'you won't lose.'"
Excellent point, pet oppa. This unworthy little sister can't help but be amazed by her brother's vast knowledge.
But student, you've missed the point of my philosophical question. That's not what's important right now. Unfortunately, your grade is a D-.
"Do you want to be a noble lady or a professor?"
Well, if things go well, I might live a life rivaling real nobility, but if they don't, I could end up as a slave called a grad student, running errands nonstop.
Either way, that's not the key point right now.
To circle back, whether it's a hundred victories or never defeated, the important thing is that you need to know your opponent well. Without that, you can't even devise countermeasures.
In that regard, our side—Earth's civilization—is at a severe disadvantage.
The culprits have projected mysterious holographic videos over major cities worldwide, distributed unidentified red and blue pills, and made people vanish into thin air, yet we don't even know their methods, let alone their identity.
Sure, some national agency or secret society might be filming a blockbuster rescue operation somewhere I don't know about, but we've tangled with these bastards way too much to just sit back and wait.
No matter how much we scream that we're victims too—our work stolen and forced into use—people who've lost family and friends will gladly hunt us down like witches.
So we need achievements. Not some hero popping up out of nowhere to solve it all, but proof that we took the lead in resolving the incident. Securing real firepower on top of that would be ideal.
Above all, we had something others didn't—an advantage I hate to admit, but one that's beneficial right now.
It was that the game Beyond Elysion, which the culprits are using, and its OS Nebula were originally our creation. And that my brother had been reborn as Dimo.
"I'm a Pokemon fan."
Hah, so my brother ended up riding the massive IP bandwagon too. Like some no-name band that ditches their original music for popularity once they get a taste.
"You're the one who shoved mass appeal into my work!!"
Let's use the polite term "normalization." Even if I'm a bit unsure if it fits.
Anyway, as the original creators, we know the game's data inside out, and thanks to my brother's unique nature, we can even interface with Nebula.
And the shocking fact my brother uncovered.
-Nebula is still analyzing the 'mysterious force' dominating the game, following an old command I gave it.
-The culprits are only roughly using Nebula; they haven't fully analyzed or controlled this super AI, which is half an OOPArt. So Nebula maintains some neutrality.
-My brother can share info with Nebula in secret, leveraging his digital lifeform status.
In other words, we can access Nebula's analysis, putting us on the same playing field as the culprits.
So, what's the progress on that analysis?
"About 5%. Considering it's right after the game launched, it's not a bad rate... but still too low to do anything serious. We'd need at least 30% to hand it over to Kaedics for deeper decoding."
Yeah. The biggest flaw in this plan.
For my brother to share data with Nebula, he has to log in as a player's pet—and if I get kicked from the game, the whole operation crashes.
Actually, at that point, we'd have bigger problems. It'd mean my lifeline snapped.
So I need to survive in this game as long as possible.
Forget clearing their ten trials—just outlasting them wins.
If this were the original Beyond Elysion, it'd be easy aside from the playtime limit, but dealing with these death-game enthusiasts makes it a tough nut.
It's obvious trials will wipe out hordes each time. Still, we have to push through.
"So, what's next? You could grow more with Aurelia's help, right?"
That'd be a bad move.
Game-wide, I'm barely past the beginner zone, but at level 34, I'm already way ahead of other players.
They gave ten days for the 'first trial.' Average 'decently leveled' players should be around 15-20. Trials will scale to that.
Level enough to survive is fine; level enough to trivialize it draws too much attention.
Cheesing EXP via NPC chats works best if I stay a bit above average.
"Aren't you setting the bar too low? Beyond Elysion ran for a month pre-launch, so experienced players could hit mid-20s in ten days."
In a normal game, sure.
But this is a death game. One death and you're out—unfair on top of unfair.
In a situation where one slip means death, how many players can optimize perfectly?
Even those treating it like a game or fully committed might manage, but the dragged-in ones? Doubt they can even hunt properly.
"What if they don't scale trials to expected levels? These psychos might spawn overleveled mobs for a slaughterfest."
No, they won't.
"You trust them?"
I do. Because they're psychos, I trust them more.
Ever see a cat playing with a mouse snap its neck instantly?
They don't want a boring total wipeout.
If killing was the goal, no need for this elaborate stage.
They want a show—people teetering on death's edge, squirming desperately for their amusement.
So we tightrope that line.
"Okay, so what's next? Level's good enough now, right? Gear up?"
Not bad, but it's rare downtime. Time to use it wisely.
"For what?"
Of course, as a former GM, help some people?
"...You're grinning like bad news."
No way. Must be the avatar tweaks working well.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ How did things end up like this?
Han Ye-rin—character name Nadia—sat slumped in a corner of the starting plaza, staring blankly ahead.
She was a VTuber. Not from some big corp everyone knew, but a tiny outfit scraping by day to day.
Of course, it hadn't always been that way.
When she started, she had high hopes and confidence, and things went decently at first.
Her bunny-eared, military-vet high school girl gimmick blew up from early streams where she flailed hilariously in a horror FPS—earning her that "vet" tag (lol)—but her FPS skills were legit, so she got some respect.
Still, it didn't explode into stardom.
Reasons? Plenty.
Starting indie meant no promo push; her banter and comedy were meh; maybe no star power.
She rode the Starving Shadow hype wave, so not a total flop, but stuck in that awkward middle ground.
That must've been why.
[500k if you raise your hand and yell 'I'm in the game!']
She fell for that playful Super Chat laced with malice.
'No way it's real' complacency. Tempted by the hefty sum—not huge, but juicy.
Already timid, she snapped at chats mocking or "warning" her off danger.
All that mixed into her being stuck in Beyond Elysion as Nadia.
"...Should've played ahead of time."
She let out a long sigh.
She'd considered trying Beyond Elysion ages ago.
Hype everywhere—not tempting a VTuber would've been weirder.
But her fans included Starving Shadow diehards hostile to the rival that stole the top spot.
Some didn't care, but on shaky ground, risking a "traitor" backlash and mass exodus was too dicey.
When controversy paused service, she thought it smart; now, wishes she'd jumped in bold.
Then picking Hunter just 'cause it had guns she knew wouldn't have tanked her.
-Hunters suck hard. Even in parties, dead weight.
-Firepower's okay, but manual aiming? Hitrate trash. Mages have AoE and homing skills—easy mode.
-Mages regen mana over time; Hunters craft ammo from mats daily. Shops sell bullets, but mileage sucks.
-Not useless, but mage lite. Opposite of Martial Artist outshining Warriors despite limited tree.
-Worse than old bottom-tier Bards? They at least buff and burst.
Users trashed it in just 3 hours.
First hour: hunting logout methods.
Second: player wiki dives.
Third: solo hunting flop—dodging rabbit dropkicks after wasting ammo.
And done.
No parties took ammo-scarce, bad-rep Hunter Nadia.
Shouldn't have chased that Super Chat.
Shouldn't have picked Hunter blind.
Even then, should've partied from start, not solo-wasted ammo.
No—shouldn't have become a VTuber.
Regrets chained into nightmare, positives crushed by negatives.
Then.
"Hey, looking for a party?"
Spotted her party-wait icon?
A player approached Nadia.
She snapped her head up, eyes widening.
'Pretty avatar...'
Villainess noble vibe? Sultry allure?
Good it's a game—IRL chaos. But pouring effort into looks mid-death-game? Not all there.
Though her own bunny ears crammed with 'Nadia Kraft' traits made it hard to judge.
"Y-yeah. Party hunting. But I'm a Hunter... you sure?"
"Yep, cool. Curious about the new class anyway."
"You're a vet player, huh? Rep's not great though. Regretting it."
"Hm?"
Redhead blinked at her words.
Nadia inwardly sighed at the surprise. Should've shut up and partied.
But what if they called her a liar later?
The player smiled brightly—avatar or not, captivating.
"Honest and diligent. Nice."
"Uh? Th-thanks."
"No worries. I judge for myself, not rumors."
She extended a hand.
"Dark Knight class. Erin. Nice to party with you, Nadia."